SaferVPN Overview

SaferVPN has finally close to being an excellent service after some significant improvements. This easy-to-use and widely accessible VPN has excellent encryption to secure your online presence in more than 34 locations worldwide. Whether you’re in the US, UK or anywhere or want to access the geo-restricted content, the unlimited server switching of SaferVPN allows you to toggle globally and remain protected with more than 700 high-speed servers. The service provider has no interest in your browsing actions, but their internet freedom fighters are passionate to assist you 24/7 365-days with their services.

With average pricing plans coupled with a good selection of OpenVPN clients, the service is an okay choice for newcomers, looking for above-average security. SaferVPN’s limited servers and their deceptive privacy policy could push advanced users to look elsewhere.

The Background of SaferVPN Company

SaferVPN founded back in 2013 by business partners; Sagi Gidali and Amit Baraket, of Safer Social LTD. The service Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel; the small location seems like they’ve lost the game prior setting foot on the field. After all, Israel is increasingly tumultuous and highly politicized region; it’s normal to get hesitant in risking your privacy at the center of the turmoil.

But, hold on! Don’t get finicky with being based in Israel, to review SaferVPN we have dug and discussed the security policy and the concerning laws with SaferVPN and believe us, it’s not that bad, to give it a try. The service provider doesn’t keep minimalist logs. Read this SaferVPN review until the end; you will be convinced.

Now, let’s come to the main point and discuss the incredible features SaferVPN offers in its services.

SaferVPN Features

We have tested each and every feature available in the service and concluded with the given below analysis:

SaferVPN Geographical Servers

Server selection of this lesser-known Israeli VPN is impressive yet modest with over 700 servers spread across in more than 34 useful locations, isn’t pretty cool? Be it South Africa, Brazil, India, New Zealand, or any other unusual location; you will find SaferVPN’s servers.

SaferVPN doesn’t offer a vast server list with a promise to allow connectivity from Antarctica to the North Pole, 700+ is not that bad. Europe and Asia are well-covered but limited coverage in Latin America and slim pickings of Africa and the Middle East.

If you’re new to VPNs, SaferVPN is the best option for limited servers, but if you’re tech-savvy, you better look for other VPN, which offers more than 1000 servers.

Unable to discuss with the support team support, we expect that SaferVPN uses SHA-1 for data channeling handshake, which is okay. SaferVPN confirmed that it does apply perfect forward secrecy (PFS) for all IKEv2 and OpenVPN connections.

Automatic Location Selection

Since SaferVPN features a good variety of VPN protocols in its software, it’s only beneficial when you know L2TP from IKEv2, otherwise no use. To keep this fact into consideration and to make VPN protocol selection process for maximum performance, the provider features an automatic selection tool. The Automatic location selection Algorithm selects the optimal protocol to support your system’s configuration. Although this feature is a USP claimed by SaferVPN but, does it worth it? While testing, we were quite perplexed.

We have a diagnose the best VPN protocol with the existing system configuration, and we tested IKEv2 over IPSEC (AES 256) but failed back to OpenVPN (AES 256).

If you’re one with even a rudimentary understanding of VPN protocols, you must be aware that OpenVPN is the widely used protocol in existence as it’s most useful protocol to date. It marries security and speed in a way that no other protocol has been able to match. Therefore, OpenVPN is always our default recommendation.

Anyways, OpenVPN with AES-256 is the best protocol, coupled with IKEv2, mainly when regularly switching between WiFi and mobile, or between WiFi networks. Either it works well or not, entirely depend upon the service being offered.

This feature is entirely optional; if you don’t like it, then it’s not a big deal.

WiFi Protection

Do you want something to detect unsecured wifi near you, so that you won’t connect to that network after that? You never know which public WiFi will breach cyber privacy. SaferVPN is at your service in this regard.

One of the exciting features built into the SaferVPN apps is automatic wifi security. With this feature, as you connect to an unsecured wifi network, the SaferVPN automatically detect that the network is unsecured and connect to the VPN. It’s a handy bonus, especially if you’re lazy and forgetful in connecting through the VPN app every time you connect to the public wifi. To work this feature, the app must be running on the desktop, at least in the system tray.

You can disable the feature to add trusted networks to a whitelist manually.

SaferVPN Logging Policy

Something that always bothers users about VPN providers is their misleading logging policies.

In fact, if you go deep down their privacy policies, it’s not usual to find companies advertise a “Zero Logs” policy, actually logging a metric crap ton of data.

Since SaferVPN is in a region with extreme privacy laws. Crucially, they apply specifically to their state. Here is the document (.pdf) sent to me by SaferVPN for an in-depth discussion on the respective laws.

You must be somewhat uncomfortable about Israel’s close relationship with the US’ NSA in mass surveillance operations. However, we reassured that this does not pose any threat to your privacy.

Let’s see what they claim;

Let’s see what actually they claim;

“No Logging Policy! We value and respect your privacy — in and out of the web. We never log or monitor your VPN network traffic.”

Sounds great, but that’s not the whole story.

The service doesn’t log your traffic, but it does record a great deal of session data including; connection time, bandwidth used, your incoming IP address and the allocated IP address. That doesn’t tell anyone what you’re doing, but the information they collect is slightly more than many other services collect.

As you see, this isn’t quite the “Zero Logs” policy that promised. Although it’s far from the ideal, still we didn’t find SaferVPN’s logging policy, particularly worrisome.

Kill Switch and Multiple Connections

After using their VPN for some time, you’ll be glad that SaferVPN is not featured dense, as they are more focused on their resources including server optimization, creating an efficient support team, and offering affordable services.

SaferVPN offers few things great whereas most of their competitors do a lot of stuff acceptable.

Many of you might be disappointed by the apparent lack of bells and whistles, but we believe that SaferVPN offers all of the features that matter, including a kill switch and five simultaneous device connections.

These features are welcomed additions to an already renowned service, and we are glad to report that its kill switch feature works exactly as advertised.

SaferVPN for Netflix

OK, maybe it’s an exaggeration, but not for Netflix fanatics. It’s also no secret that Netflix is taking destructive measures to block traffic, emanating from VPN servers.

Anyways, the good news is that SaferVPN has not been a victim so far. In short, it works. Surprisingly, it’s near to impossible for an average VPN service to surpass the Netflix detection mechanism, but saferVPN proved to be the best VPN to surf Netflix. Other than English, you can also access the Danish, Romanian, and Hungarian versions of the most popular streaming services, however, the catalog will, differ from the famous American version.

While testing on a browser, SaferVPN unblocked the US Netflix, by directly connecting to the “US Streaming” server and we entered into the world of US-only entertainment. Upon inquiring, we were told that we could also connect to Denmark, Romania, and Hungary servers, but you will possibly be stuck with the local Netflix catalogs on those servers.

Keep in mind that you need to set your system’s IPv4 settings to obtain a DNS server automatically; as the SaferVPN app won’t override them. This is the default on Windows.

The only sad part is that you can’t use Netflix app as SaferVPN couldn’t unblock Netflix on Android, as it overrides your device’s DNS settings and reveals your real location. To be fair, only a small fraction of VPNs can overcome this.

SaferVPN in China

What comes to mind when thinking about a country, where you would need a VPN? China, right? But, it’s an unavoidable fact that the Chinese government has sophisticated software to block individual websites in China including, Facebook, Google products, Instagram, Twitter, and others. Do you know, last month Apple removed all the VPN apps in their China store.

Unfortunately, as per many third-party sources, SaferVPN’s is no longer working on Chinese soil.

Caveat* This is not something to test directly. If you have personally experience SaferVPN in the so-called People’s Republic, please share your feedback in the comment section.

How to use SaferVPN?

You detest VPN providers who force you to restart your devices after installing the VPN client. Thanks to SaferVPN for being ‘restart Free’, most straightforward and user-friendly interface.

It takes 3 minutes right after you purchased their services; just one more click to get protected.

Although the interface is not feature-rich but has the intuitive design and easy to navigate interface that makes their software, an absolute delight.

Usability-wise, you would appreciate the fact that – unlike competitive providers – SaferVPN has chosen to keep its UI rather compact.

SaferVPN Apps – Setup and Usability

To download SaferVPN, you need to navigate to the download page of the website and select the operating system that you wish to use the VPN through. SaferVPN covers significant platforms and is a safe bet if you want a simple solution includes all of the bases.

For iOS and Android, you can download the VPN app via iTunes and the Google Play Store. If you’re a desktop and a laptop user, the service provider has an app for you. All the apps use OpenVPN encryption settings.

The service also supports certain routers, to route your whole connection through the VPN. Want to be more hassle-free? Just order a VPN-configured router from SaferVPN and protect your favorite device.

SaferVPN Website

The website seems very smart, offering a variety of well-presented setup guides for Linux, Windows phones, Blackberry phones, numerous routers, and various media streaming platforms. You will also find a blog section, featuring some cybersecurity articles. Technical details are limited on the ground, but the page detailing encryption for the different VPN protocols is enormous.

SaferVPN for Windows

The SaferVPN Windows client is equally professional yet simple and straightforward. Simply ‘select a location and click to connect,’ but there are lots of pluses for tech-savvy users. These include a quick search and a Favourites system. On the same interface, you can check your status detailing IP address connected time, automatic connections, protocol selection, and a kill switch. The client has a low profile on your desktop, which worth appreciating.

We tested the Kill-switch by force-closing the app in Windows Task Manager, but still connected to the internet. It has also noticed that the Windows client connects to VPN servers quickly. The only disappointment is that it’s unclear which protocol is used when “Automatic” is selected. Support was also entirely on this.

SaferVPN for Android

The mobile app is similar to the desktop app. The server list is in a side menu while the settings and other account details are hidden in the hamburger menu. If you’re not concerned about server location, then go for the one-tap connection. The app is lightweight and doesn’t hangs or freezes, even on a low-powered Android phone.

The only minor annoyance is the missing of flag icons in the servers list. The app client also offers search function to find the country you’re looking for. The “Save logs” feature in the settings was failed in several attempts; this could cause problems if you’re facing connection issues.

Thanks for having no promotions or advertisements displayed in the mobile client, even the Upgrade and Refer Friend functions are hidden in the hamburger.

The best thing about the mobile client is a limited number of permissions its app requires.

SaferVPN for iOS

The app also looks exactly like the Android app, with no IP leaks detected. Using the app is quite easy; select a location and click on Connect. In this client, you can also mark your favorite places to connect quickly. The app allows you choose the right VPN protocol and has a kill switch that disconnects you Internet any time the VPN connection drops.

Signing up is a breeze, even installing and logging into the client is as painless as could be.

SaferVPN For Chrome Extension

The Chrome extension is useful -for those concerned with using the VPN for browser traffic- means that the system is compatible with Linux desktops without making time-consuming changes to network configuration files.

SaferVPN Chrome browser extension works well for changing your location. Have a look

“We do not explicitly use the encryption within our Chrome extension. The Chrome itself (internally) use SSL as security layer on top on HTTP protocol to secure a user session data from being stolen by “bad” people.”

The extension offers 500MB of free bandwidth/month. This is pretty cool if you are not a SaferVPN subscriber, or if you’re not planning to use SaferVPN all the time.

Currently, the service lacks support for web browsers excluding Chrome, but it rather easy to connect.

SaferVPN Customer Support

Other than the setup guides, SaferVPN’s support is primarily via 24/7 live chat along with a ticketed email system. Upon contacting SaferVPN’s support via live chat, responses were almost instant and quite friendly.

Disappointingly, when our queries were escalated via ticketed email to a more knowledgeable staff, the answers were somewhat unsatisfactory.

They are also available on social media, and they reply instantly on Facebook messaging.

The company call its staff “Internet freedom fighters” passionate about providing security to those who are living in countries with censorship. This particular claim is, cynically contradicted, as SaferVPN does, in fact, keep logs.

SaferVPN for Torrenting

Protecting online identity is quite a difficult, especially when it comes to torrenting. Personally, this is one our most significant point of contention with SaferVPN.

Considering a vast collection of servers, they would have spent some time to optimize at least a few of those servers for P2P and torrenting. However, SaferVPN only has one server -Netherlands server- that works for these purposes.

If you’re a torrent-freak, then forget SaferVPN and start looking elsewhere for secure torrenting.

SaferVPN Pricing

The level of functionality like the SaferVPN usually offers at a high price, but that’s not the case here.

SaferVPN accepts any payment method imaginable, ranging from credit cards and PayPal and all the way to cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin), which further anonymize your online presence.

Sign up and activate 24-hour free trial, with no restrictions and test whether the service is worth to spend your hard-earned dollars.

SaferVPN Conclusion

SaferVPN is all about simplicity and speed. Getting set up and changing servers couldn’t be any easier. This VPN is an expanding and recently has upped its game, and it’s now a VPN service that we can highly recommend.

SaferVPN’s USP is its excellent server network that strikes the perfect balance between performance and size. Being a Netflix VPN is yet another plus point and yes, don’t forget their quickest customer services.

It’s an appealing service, offering speedy and easy-to-use multiple clients topped with a free access-all-areas 24-hour trial to give it a spin. SaferVPN has all the requirements; a good VPN should have.

The ‘no torrents’ ban is a definite a major downside, other than limited features for advanced users. There’s no option to configure your DNS servers, obfuscate traffic, or change ports, but these won’t be a big deal for novice users; the SaferVPN’s target market.